Today's commercial aircraft cabins are designed to accommodate passengers and their luggage by providing several distinct and largely independent components. More precisely, the individual passenger cabin environment is made up of seats, for instance including underseat stowage, life vests, information placards, literature pouches, plus overhead stowage bins including passenger service units, for instance reading lights, air outlets, information signs, loudspeakers and supplemental oxygen. These items are mostly designed by different parties and integrated or assembled on the aircraft in fixed locations with the specified spatial arrangement. Aircraft provisions for the attachment of seats are typically provided via floor structure with limited incremental positioning. Overhead stowage bins are installed in a fixed location and provide accommodation for PSU Passenger Service Unit) components. The layout of a specific customer cabin is fixed to a certain configuration and involves a significant effort by the aircraft manufacturer to vary the installation and also on behalf of the customer to make adaptations in service. Further on, today's passengers carry personal belongings on board of the aircraft which have to be placed in stowage bins. The available space has to be shared with the others. This situation is derived from a classical baggage stowage compartment type, which is oriented longitudinally along the cabin, for instance in the x-direction respectively the longitudinal direction of the fuselage. The opening of the stowage bins is typically above the aisle orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the fuselage, so that the passengers interfere themselves. This results in inefficient turnaround time and the poor access to the belongings during the flight.
In the past, many different seat and stowage bin configurations and further partial solutions were accomplished to improve the space situation in the cabin of an aircraft.
For instance, DE 43 01 681 C1 describes a satellite like a PSU which can be shifted in longitudinal direction without disrupting any of its functions. All PSU functions are fed to the PSU. DE 195 02 658 C1 describes essentially the same functional principles for satellites, but the unit is supported by a flexible arm that allows the PSU to give way to the opening of a pivoting bin. DE 195 33 981 C1 reveals an arrangement with PSU functions around the individual passenger seat and unfolds a privacy umbrella when the seat is reclined. The feeding of the PSU function allowing for layout changes. DE 195 34 025 discloses PSU functions around the passenger seat and is designed in a column. The column can be part of the transversal seat structure or is separate flats transversal elements on the floor either in front of the seat or behind it and companying the seat roll without functional disruption when it is moved for a change of layout.